Tallest building and the China bubble

The Chinese economy is on fire, with some calling it healthy growth and some calling it a bubble,  particularly in the Real Estate market where a building boom has coincided with rapidly rising prices.  Property prices in Beijing are now higher than in Dubai, despite the latter having a higher per capita income.  So when it comes to China and its relation to the global economy are we talking ‘Noahs Ark’ or ‘Titanic’?

Speaking of Dubai, here’s a dubious but interesting theory: The Skyscraper Index proposes that the nation with the worlds tallest building suffers an economic downturn sometime around its opening.  The worlds tallest building is now opening in Dubai, where some property values have dropped in half over the last year as their debt ridden economy falters.  Previous record breaking buildings have been the Empire State Building (US Great Depression), Sears Tower (70′s stagflation) and the Petronas tower in Kuala Lumpur (East Asian global financial crisis).

The next record breaking building is set to be the Shanghai Tower which is scheduled to open in 2014.

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17 Responses to “Tallest building and the China bubble”

  1. 17
  2. tempiegodd Says: Reply to this comment

    trends , http://mansellracing.com/members/Buy-cheap-Generi… , physical

    Current score: 0
  3. 16
  4. reveneuba Says: Reply to this comment

    google , http://epsaservicecenter.com/members/Cheap-Addera… , processes

    Current score: 0
  5. 15
  6. rayvenwool Says: Reply to this comment

    affected , http://forum.ea.com/eaforum/posts/list/1993576.pa… , vapor , http://community.omnicom.no/members/Order-Cialis-… , relates

    Current score: 0
  7. 14
  8. simondomi Says: Reply to this comment

    hey mates

    Sorry if I look demanding in my first post, I am Simone, I used to work for a a property company and now I am starting my career to make something for myself, I have made my first website ever, please check it out : http://dubaipropertyblog.com

    can you please suggest me how it looks ? and I also want to know as the property is down in dubai due to global recession, should I go for a blog or a forum on this domain ?

    I appreciate and thank for your time and help..

    cheers

    Current score: 0
  9. 13
  10. Patsan Says: Reply to this comment

    Hope Dubai got a 2-5-10 insurance on their erection. Let's wait until maintenance bills come…

    Current score: 1
  11. 12
  12. oneangryslav2 Says: Reply to this comment

    The Emirate of Dubai is going to be spending a hell of a lot of its money in the future on Viagra and Cialis. It takes a hell of a lot of product to get that thing erect.

    Current score: 1
  13. 11
  14. bestplaceonmeth Says: Reply to this comment

    Congratulations Dubai.

    You now have the biggest erection in the world.

    The Chinese will soon try to get a bigger one, but will predictably fail.

    Current score: 1
  15. 10
  16. logic Says: Reply to this comment

    indeed. the rise in property tax is due to the Olympic disaster (in terms of financing) rather than to the housing bubble…

    Current score: 5
  17. 9
  18. Not much of a name Says: Reply to this comment

    @blueskies:

    Increasing assessments do not directly mean increasing taxes. Assessments are used to calculate how much of the civic "tax pie" one is required to pay.

    Current score: -2
  19. 8
  20. blueskies Says: Reply to this comment

    Greater Victoria property assessments up $89 billion for 2010….sez the headline

    the article states:

    "an increase of nearly $4 billion from the previous year, according to B.C. Assessment Authority."

    and…. "This assessment roll will be used to raise over $6 billion in property taxes in 2010."

    http://tinyurl.com/yfqq6gw

    what?! you mean i actually have to pay taxes on this?!

    it's not fair!!!

    Current score: 2
  21. 7
  22. Classic Envy Says: Reply to this comment

    Sorry – the quest for pursue the biggest everything in Dubai (building, indoor mall, airport, etc) is classic Western penis envy. For a land of sand, where only 15% of the population are actually Emirates, the infrastructure quests of this minor city state speak of their insecurity on a grandiose scale.

    If you have ever been there, and conducted business there, you will know what I speak of…

    Current score: 10
  23. 6
  24. rp Says: Reply to this comment

    #3 @nonymouse: Geez, I hope they don't see this story:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/02/business/global/02caps...

    Current score: 0
  25. 5
  26. rp Says: Reply to this comment

    Congratulations are in order for Dubai. The worlds tallest structure is a serious technical feat, and it has put Dubai on the map as a future world city. The fact that they didn't even pay for it is also impressive. Truly they have learned from the west.

    Current score: 13
  27. 4
  28. Anonymous Says: Reply to this comment

    It is extremely difficult to take many of the statistics coming out of China at face value. When real estate prices in the major cities doubles and triples in one year it doesn't take a genius to see that something is awry. Real estate prices are now out of reach for 90% of the people living in the cities. The Chinese stock market has also seen some of the same ridiculous growth.

    There is a parallel with Canada in the sense that all of the manufacturing headed for western nations has tanked and yet many economic statistics continue to move ahead. It just doesn't make sense. A Chinese bubble popping would be particularly devastating to their country and they would finally start feeling some of the pain that the rest of the world has seen.

    Current score: 3
  29. 3
  30. nonymouse Says: Reply to this comment

    In other news.

    Upon hearing about the sky scraper index Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson proposes building worlds first underground skyscraper. " The obvious way to eco-denstiy isn't to build up it's to build down, taking advantage of both geothermal energy and a closer proximity to the important Chinese market" said the mayor.

    Current score: 14
  31. 2
  32. Mr. Reasonable Says: Reply to this comment

    RE: The Skyscraper Index. I guess it's a good thing we didn't build the Shangri-La taller or we might have a bubble problem here!

    :D

    Current score: 3
  33. 1
  34. arit Says: Reply to this comment

    Hi Pope,

    I have mailed you some material, I do not know if you check the GMail account often…

    Regards

    arit

    Current score: 0
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